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Mum's Gone To …

Travel tales of an empty nester
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Home  >  Blog  >  Walking holiday in Portugal: Cascais

Walking holiday in Portugal: Cascais

Trish Burgess Posted on08/06/201904/07/2019 Cascais, Inntravel, Pathways and Palaces of Sintra, Walking holiday in Portugal 12 Comments
Front entrance of Pergola House, Cascais
Inviting entrance of Pergola House

In the arrivals hall of Lisbon airport we hunted for our names in a sea of A4 laminated cards. We were expecting Miguel to pick us up but the smiling face of Sebastian greeted us instead. He said he was the boyfriend of Miguel’s daughter and he worked with Miguel at the airport. Sebastian was a very competent taxi driver, pleasing Dougie by choosing a route which passed by a number of Lisbon’s football stadiums. They talked footie all the way along the coast to Cascais.

This is what I love about our Inntravel holidays: the attention to detail regarding the arrangements. Miguel usually takes all the Inntravellers to their first hotel on this ‘Palaces and Pathways of Sintra’ self-guided walking holiday but, when unavoidably detained, he had ensured we had an excellent replacement and kept the business in the family.

It’s a shame good weather couldn’t have been laid on as well. Rain accompanied our drive to Cascais, the pretty coastal town which was to be our home for just one night before our walking trail began the following day. I spent most of the taxi journey fathoming out how to pronounce Cascais: ‘cass-case’ or ‘cash-keesh’ or something in between. Best to avoid saying it altogether.

Cascais town centre in Portugal

Cascais is a former fishing village that became a holiday destination for Portuguese royalty in the 19th century. It’s not hard to see why. Beaches, a harbour, citadel and picturesque streets make this a lovely spot and, even in the rain, we were able to enjoy our usual just-arrived-must-check-out-our-surroundings routine. I can recommend Greenwish vegetarian café, a gorgeous little place for tea, cakes and soup.

Greenwish cafe in Cascais
Very green in Greenwish veggie cafe

Our accommodation, an Inntravel favourite, was Pergola House. The garden and frontage of this elegant 1930s town house was overflowing with blooms: bougainvillea everywhere. There was a riot of colour, despite the drizzle, and I could only imagine how glorious it would look in the sunshine. This small family-run guest house, with its antiques and family mementos, proved to be an superb choice for our brief stay.

Pergola House exterior
Even on a dull day, Pergola House is a delight

After our short canter round the town, we were offered a welcome glass of port in the hotel sitting room, before we headed off to find a restaurant for dinner. We had sussed out lots of options during our afternoon recce and plumped for Pica Pica, a great value, busy little eatery. An octopus salad for 7.50 euros, grilled sea bream for 12 and craft beer at 2.50 a bottle – we loved these prices. In fact we ate like kings all week. Your Euro certainly goes further in Portugal.

The next morning we met our fellow Inntravellers at breakfast: Martin and Sally, Edward and Rosemary. The six of us were starting the trail that day, although each couple was walking independently. I think we were all checking each other out, knowing we would be seeing a lot of each other over the coming week. Would we get on with each other? It was early days but the signs were good. There was definitely a mischievous side to Martin.

Jonathan, the owner of the next hotel, arrived in his car to pick us all up. The plan was for him to drive us to the lighthouse at Cabo Rosa for the start of our  10km walk to his accommodation, Convento de Sao Saturnino. We all piled in and, accompanied by the unmistakable whiff of wet dog, let our driver take us further round the coast.

Cabo Rosa - start of walking trail
Cabo Rosa – start of walking trail

It was overcast, windy and the drizzle began to drip down my neck. Jonathan kindly offered to drop us further up the coast, to lop off a kilometre or two. I do think he believed we were all a little bit crazy but, as a Frenchman married to a Scot, he understood our madness. We even had his number to call if we got fed up and wanted him to take us the whole way there. But we weren’t about to lose face in front of everyone else. What’s a bit of rain anyway! We tightened our rucksacks, zipped up our waterproofs and checked our notes. In 3km we would reach a refreshment stop, Bar do Guincho. That was all the encouragement we needed…

This is my personal account of the Inntravel walking holiday: Palaces and Pathways of Sintra. We chose this holiday ourselves, as regular customers and huge fans of the company. We did receive a small discount which is payment for an article I plan to write for the firm’s website. All opinions are my own.

Here’s more on our walking holiday in Portugal:

Cabo Rosa to Azoia

Cabo de Roca to Colares

Adro Nunes and Capuchos Covent

 

Suitcases and Sandcastles

Previous Article Agatha Christie, Notre Dame and Eurovision
Next Article Walking holiday in Portugal: Cabo Rosa to Azóia

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12 Comments

  1. Kirsty | World for a Girl Reply
    04/07/2019 at 1:58 pm

    What a wonderful part of Portugal! I love those tiles in the town square so Portuguese and beautiful. Cascais is definitely on my bucket list now! #farawayfiles

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      05/07/2019 at 12:37 pm

      We’ve had such wonderful holidays in Portugal – I love the style, the tiles and the weather is usually great.

  2. Tanja/The Red Phone Box travels Reply
    04/07/2019 at 8:08 pm

    we briefly stopped here on our day trip to Sintra, wished we had more time to see this pretty little town #farawayfiles

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      05/07/2019 at 12:36 pm

      I’d like to return too – we just had an afternoon and night. Just enough time for a quick canter round the town. It was lovely.

  3. Nicola Reply
    05/07/2019 at 10:47 am

    So pretty. I like the look of these kind of holidays! Will have to check out Inntravel myself
    #farawayfiles

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      05/07/2019 at 12:35 pm

      Inntravel has been the ideal holiday company for us as empty nesters. I never fancied walking holidays before then and now I know what I’ve been missing!

  4. Claire Reply
    05/07/2019 at 1:58 pm

    What a shame about the weather but your first stop looked ever so pretty! #FarawayFiles

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      08/07/2019 at 12:29 pm

      Thankfully the weather improved and by the end of the week we were sweltering!

  5. Clare (Suitcases and Sandcastles) Reply
    05/07/2019 at 2:51 pm

    And I thought it was pronounced Cash Kie as in sigh. Who knows? I do love reading your accounts of your Inntravel adventures, Trish. They do sound right up my street (we are travelling soulmates after all!) and I keep hoping to read that you’ll get a massive discount rather than a small one for publicising the company so well. Thanks for sharing on #farawayfiles

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      08/07/2019 at 12:27 pm

      I looked it up on one of those online pronunciation things. I still couldn’t say it properly.
      Yes, we’re big fans of Inntravel. Thank you for rooting for me but don’t worry, I’m not feeling hard done by – it suits us well to get some money off our booked holiday without lots of preconditions attached. x

  6. Pingback: Inntravel walking holiday in Portugal: Convento de São Saturnino - Mum's Gone To ...
  7. Pingback: Slow travel in Sintra - visiting Portugal's UNESCO World Heritage site in three days. - Mum's Gone To ...

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